ISLAMABAD: Protesting against Pakistan’s alleged targeting of cross-border terrorist hideouts in Paktika, the Afghan Taliban have canceled the visit of a Pakistani army delegation to Kandahar.
Pakistan has not made any comment regarding the attack on the hideout of terrorists within the borders of Afghanistan or the cancellation of a Pakistani delegation’s visit to Kandahar on Sunday. The media wing of the army has also not reacted to any developments in these two cases.
The Taliban have also not commented on the alleged Pakistani attack in Paktika or the cancellation of the Pakistani delegation’s visit to Paktika. However, diplomatic sources have said that a delegation of mid-level officers was to go to Kandahar on Sunday to resolve the issue of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
According to the sources, the delegation was supposed to meet the Governor of Kandahar and Deputy Chief of the Afghan Intelligence Agency Mullah Shirin Akhund. Mullah Shirin is considered close to Taliban Supreme Leader Hibbullah Akhundzada. He was also part of the team that facilitated the talks between Pakistan and the TTP.
Earlier in the same year, he had also visited Islamabad. Now the visit of the Pakistani delegation was being considered as a follow-up of the same visit. Some Afghan journalists have reported on Friday that Pakistan had launched an attack in Paktika to kill a specific TTP terrorist. Pakistan has not confirmed any such attack.
Now an Afghan media outlet “Da Afghanistan International” has claimed that the Taliban canceled the Pakistani delegation’s visit to Kandahar in response to the Pakistani air and missile attack.
